The DIY Postal Service (preview)

The Big Issue has just published a story about letter-writing, and friendship, and delivering your own hand-written letters on your own bike.

I have a postie’s bike, but not in good working order. Salvaged from a skip, it’s a rusted machine with a cracked leather seat, flat tyres and a chain that won’t budge. Still, it looks nice in the garden and reminds me that once upon a time I really did want to be a postie.

There is high romance about being a postie. I had an uncle who worked for the PMG. My father always used to rib him (out of envy?) about how allegedly slack my uncle’s work life was.

To me the fantasy of the mailman is linked to Hermes, the messenger. The wonderful Wikipedia says:

Hermes is considered a god of transitions and boundaries. He is described as quick and cunning, moving freely between the worlds of the mortal and divine. He is also portrayed as an emissary and messenger of the gods; an intercessor between mortals and the divine, and conductor of souls into the afterlife. He has been viewed as the protector and patron of herdsmen, thieves, oratory and wit, literature and poetry, athletics and sports, invention and trade, roads, boundaries and travelers.

In some myths, he is a trickster and outwits other gods for his own satisfaction or for the sake of humankind. His attributes and symbols include the herma, the rooster, the tortoise, purse or pouch, winged sandals, and winged cap. His main symbol is the Greek kerykeion or Latin caduceus, which appears in a form of two snakes wrapped around a winged staff.

In the Roman adaptation of the Greek pantheon (see interpretatio romana), Hermes is identified with the Roman god Mercury, who, though inherited from the Etruscans, developed many similar characteristics such as being the patron of commerce Cheers Stephen